Midnight in the Garden
by catfic
Summary: Pure WheelerLinka romance. Moonlight, midnight swimming and a peeping monkey.


It had to happen on Hope Island at some point, right? I was in two minds about uploading this, but I thought you might enjoy it. Definite adult themes. If you're wanting a story with an excellent plot, stop reading, because this is a bit of a snapshot. As always, would love to know what you think.

This is set directly after the events in _Playing with Fire_.

XXXXXXX

Linka was heading back to the common room when she almost collided with the American. She stepped back and bumped into the wall of the crystal chamber.

"_D'yer mo! _Oh, Wheeler, it is you. Sorry."

"That's okay, babe."

They stood a little awkwardly. The attraction between them had risen to electric heights lately, but they were tiptoeing around it. Even Wheeler was being far more cautious than usual, as if any sudden move would break the new harmony in their relationship.

"So … uh … you got your sweater?"

"_Da." _Linka held it out for inspection.

"Looks … uh … warm."

He moved a little closer. Linka felt her face grow hot.

"It is warm."

"Good. Because that's what you look for in a sweater."

"That is true."

They were standing very close now.

"So … um …"

Linka wasn't sure who stepped forward first. His mouth found hers – urgently, hungrily – and the rest of the sentence was lost. He buried his hands in her long hair and pulled her closer. He could feel her hands on his back. Tentatively he parted his lips, and was rewarded with the softness of her tongue. He groaned, and sank back against the wall, pulling her with him. They landed in an untidy tangle of legs and arms. The sweater fell to the ground, forgotten.

"Wheeler, this is crazy," Linka whispered. "We must stop." She slid her hands up inside his shirt.

"Uh-huh." He slid his hands down to the tempting curves below her waist, and kissed her neck.

"We are right outside the crystal chamber!" Linka hissed, then moaned softly as he reached a particularly sensitive spot behind her ear.

"Uh-huh." Wheeler couldn't concentrate on anything except the feeling of her hands on his chest.

"Are you listening to me?"

"Nope." He pulled back slightly and started methodically unbuttoning her shirt.

"Wheeler!"

"Do you want me to stop?"

"I didn't say …" her voice trailed off in a sigh.

"Nice?"

"Mmmm."

There was silence for a few minutes. The small pile of clothes beside them grew a little bigger.

"Mind if I take off …?" Wheeler began, a little uncertainly.

"_Nyet. _In fact …" Linka grasped the belt loops of his jeans and pulled them down. She was rewarded with an admiring laugh.

"I like the way you think, babe."

"Mmmm." She sighed and shifted slightly, twining her arms around his neck. Then … "_Bozhe moy."_

In the moonlight Wheeler could see that her cheeks were flushed dark with embarrassment.

"Everything okay?"

"_Da _… it's just …" she indicated.

"Oh." Wheeler glanced down, and smiled a little awkwardly. "Um … well, this should really have been explained to you in biology class, but you see, Linka, when a man really likes a woman, he …"

"I know, you idiot," Linka laughed. "It is just ... new."

"Believe me, it's been there for a while."

"Yankee!"

He chuckled and dropped his head down to hers in another long kiss. She pressed her length against him, and soon their movements became urgent again. Wheeler's head was full of a luxurious haze, and it took a moment for Linka's frantic whisper to penetrate.

"Wheeler!"

"Huh?" He propped himself up on one elbow. "What?"

"Shhh … I think I hear …"

They froze.

A voice floated to them from across the lawn.

"Where are they?"

The common room door opened, and a band of golden light flooded onto the grass.

"Shit!' Wheeler jumped up and grabbed the pile of clothes. "Come on."

"Where are we going to go?" Linka scrambled to her feet, wrapping her arms around her bare chest. Wheeler held out his hand and she took it.

"Quickly!"

They sprinted around the back of the crystal chamber. There was a rainforest on the hill behind it, and Linka realized that this was where Wheeler was leading them.

They could hear voices not far behind.

"Wheeler? Where are you?" Gi's voice.

"It can't take Linka that long to get a sweater." That was Kwame.

"Shit, shit, shit," Wheeler said under his breath, but he was also laughing quietly. He and Linka plunged into the forest and rested against a tree, panting. As soon as they had caught their breath, Linka punched Wheeler on the arm.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"For watching me while I was running!"

A slow smile spread across Wheeler's face. "Oh, yeah. But babe … it was better than Baywatch."

He slid down the tree trunk and sat beside it. Linka sat next to him.

"That was awful!" Linka sounded horrified. "I have never been so embarrassed."

"They didn't see us."

"No, but imagine if they had!"

Wheeler's tall frame started to vibrate. Linka looked at him suspiciously.

"Are you laughing?"

He shook his head vigorously, but then the effort of holding it in became too much. His laugh was infectious, all the more so because they had to keep as quiet as possible, and Linka couldn't help joining in.

After a few minutes, Wheeler's laughter subsided. "So … did that totally kill the moment?"

Linka considered this. "Surprisingly, _nyet_."

"Really?" He regarded her, smiling. "Glad to hear it. In that case …"

"What?"

"Follow me."

XXXXXXX

Linka followed Wheeler through the undergrowth. They had put on their clothes again, but she was still very aware of the heat of his body beneath her touch.

"Where are you taking me?" she wondered aloud.

"Almost there." Wheeler led her over a fallen tree. "Here we are."

Linka stepped forward to stand beside him. They were standing on the edge of a pool in a small clearing. A waterfall thick with ferns trickled down to splash into its farthest corner. The air was full of the scent of wet earth and damp foliage.

"I did not know this was here," Linka said in surprise.

"Really?" Wheeler smiled at her. His teeth looked even whiter than usual in the moonlight. "Kwame and I used to swim here a lot after training, but I haven't come back for a while."

The water was luminous, glowing blue.

"Want a swim?" Wheeler laughed a little nervously.

Linka bent down and trailed a hand in the water. "It is nice."

"Well, then." Wheeler hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and kissed her. They stood like that for a long time.

"Is the moment back?" he asked breathlessly when they finally parted.

"The moment is back."

They smiled at each other a little self-consciously.

"It seems kind of weird to just undress now," Wheeler commented.

"Well, we shall just have to get over it," said Linka matter-of-factly. She pulled off her jacket and shirt. Wheeler watched the smooth curve of her arms and back, and the way she reached up to tie back her hair. Then he laughed.

"What?"

"You're folding your clothes?"

"So?" Linka crossed her arms defensively.

"Oh … nothing. Just – it's so like you."

"Well, I don't see you taking your clothes off, Yankee. All talk and no action, _da?"_

"First time anyone's ever accused me of that." Wheeler pulled his shirt over his head. His chest was smooth and muscled. Linka almost reached out a hand to touch it, then suddenly felt a little shy. To hide it, she quickly kicked off her shorts and slid into the water.

"I beat you!" she called to Wheeler.

He was pulling off his shoes. "No fair, I have laces to untie."

"Sure." Linka lay on her back, enjoying the soft lap of the water against her skin. She moved her arms lazily.

"This is nice."

"Don't tell me you've never skinny-dipped before?"

"Skinny … dipped?"

"Swum naked."

"No!" Linka trod water. "I was very well brought up. Besides, I am not completely naked."

"Come on … really? You haven't even done it here? In the sea, maybe, when no one else was around?"

"Well …" Linka laughed at the expression on Wheeler's face. "_Da._ Maybe once or twice."

"I'm going to have to start taking unexpected midnight walks." Wheeler dived into the water with an unnecessary splash. After a minute, his head appeared above the surface and he shook it, splattering Linka with drops.

"Sorry," he said, not sounding it at all.

"Now, is that any way to get on my good side, Jacob?" Linka asked.

"Huh." Wheeler trod water for a moment. "You used my first name."

"_Da._"

"Well, missy …" he came closer. "For that, you get an extra one of these." He splashed her, grinning.

"Stop it!"

Linka started retaliating, but then he grabbed both her hands and held them behind her back. She rested her feet on the bottom and gazed up at him wide-eyed. She felt a little apprehensive, and a pleasurable shiver ran through her.

"So, now that you've got me … what are you going to do with me?"

"Hmmm." Wheeler was in no hurry to release her. "Well, let's see."

He nuzzled her cheek briefly, then her nose. His mouth moved over her face and neck, kissing her gently, but always just avoiding her lips. Finally she squirmed in his grasp.

"Stop that."

"Don't you like it?"

"I do, but …"

He laughed, and leaned forward again to kiss her mouth. She responded eagerly.

After a few moments, he said "You know, I think this would be a lot more fun if you had the use of your hands."

"You do not say."

He freed her. She came closer, putting her arms around his neck. To her surprise he lifted her legs up and wrapped them around his own waist.

"Am I not too heavy?"

"You've got to be kidding. Besides, the water is taking your weight."

They kissed for a while, their bodies slipping into a pleasurable rhythm. Linka could feel Wheeler's chest rising and falling rapidly, and her own heart sounded loud in her ears. Somehow they had drifted to the edge of the pool, and Wheeler's back was against the bank.

"Um … Linka?" he murmured.

"Mmmm?"

"This is a good spot. I mean, I'm comfortable, we're not going to drown anytime soon …"

Linka moved back slightly. "What are you saying?"

Wheeler bit his lip. "Well … um, I realise this isn't a very well thought-out plan. Just – well, if you want to … and you don't have to, I mean, if it's moving too fast then you just have to …"

Linka silenced him with a kiss, then slid her hand down his chest. In a moment, Wheeler was very sure of her intentions.

"Oh. Good." He sighed. "Very, very good."

"Wheeler?"

"Mmm?"

"Is this nice?"

"Mmm. Nice. Very. Good things …"

"What has happened to your English?"

"Can't form sentence."

Linka smiled a little evilly. "I must be doing something right."

"Mmm-hmm."

Linka's experience from then on became a little dreamlike. She was very aware of the American's hands and voice and mouth, but the rest of the world seemed to slip away. There was just one moment that stood out very clearly, when the rhythm paused for a second.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

XXXXXXX

Some time later, the only sound was the gentle splashing of the waterfall.

Linka sighed and leaned her head back to rest against Wheeler's shoulder. He was sitting with his back against a tree trunk, his arms wrapped firmly around her waist, and she was sitting in front of him.

"This is very Adam and Eve," he said softly, breaking the silence.

"No fig leaves, though."

"No."

"I am glad nobody saw us."

"Well – someone did."

Linka followed the direction of Wheeler's gaze, and saw a familiar shape perched on the branch of a tree.

"Suchi!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah. Kinky."

Linka hit Wheeler jokingly. "That's disgusting."

"Don't worry, babe. I doubt he's going to give us away. And, if he does … well, dead monkeys tell no tales."

"Wheeler!"

"I'm kidding."

Suchi chittered a little, then jumped down from the tree. He raced back to the common room, and the sound of Wheeler and Linka's laughter faded behind him.


End file.
